Linear detector



April 29, 1952 E, B, HALEs LINEAR DETECTOR Filed Sept. 50, 1948 Zmventor [Vf/577" HALfS Patented Apr. 29, 1952 LINEAR DETECTOR Everett B. Hales, Mount Kisco, N. Y., assignor to General Precision Laboratory Incorporated, a

corporation of New York Application September 30, 1948, Serial No. 51,973

4 Claims. (Cl. Z50- 27) This invention relates to the quantitative detection of alternating voltages by the use of asymmetrical conductors, and particularly to the linear detection of small alternating voltages resulting in the production of representative direct voltage for purposes of accurate measurement.

One purpose of this invention is the provision of a linear detector of alternating voltages of intermediate frequencies for use in radio receivers, measuring instruments, computers, and other equipment of a precise nature.

Another purpose of this invention is to pro-v vide a highly accurate method of producing a direct voltage directly proportional to an alternating voltage.

Still another purpose of this invention is, to compensate for variations in cathode temperatures of the electronic tubes employed in the detector.

Previously existing types of detectors have been linear and stable only in a qualitative or roughly quantitative sense, or have had' moving parts, such as choppers or vibrators. They also have been dependent in the maintenance of linearity on the use of regulated power supplies.

The instant invention may be used with unregulated power supplies for both plates and laments, and its linearity is substantially independent of variations in the gain of the amplier which it contains. Linearity is attained in spite of the use as a principal element in the detector, of a high vacuum diode or equivalent rectifier which has by itself a nonlinear characteristic. This detector automatically compensates for variation of diode (contact) potentials and has. the useful qualities of high input impedance and low output impedance, thus avoiding any substantial loading of the input signal source and having enough output signal power to drive indicating, recording or computing equipment. The detector may also be made to have appreciable gain if desired. As an example of use, the detector of the instant invention can dernodulate an alternating current voltage to a proportional direct voltage, the accuracy of this quantitativey rectication being substantially independent of the voltage magnitude. An accuracy of better than 0.1% has been measured in test, and even higher accuracy may be attained.

. gain amplier.

This invention will be more readily under stood from the following detailed description, considered together with the attached drawings. in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic wiring diagram of one form of the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates graphically the operation of the error-taking rectier.

Figure 3 is the equivalent circuit of the error taking rectifier and feedback diode.

Figure 4 is a schematic wiringdiagram of a second form of the invention.

En Fig. l an input signal is introduced at terminals Il and I2. This signal may consist of alternating current of any voltage, frequency and Wave shape for which the circuit constants are suitable within the possible range of operation of electronic tubes and of rectiers. The signal passes through a coupling condenser I3 to the plate ld of an erger-taking diode I t, where itA is rectified, that positive portion which exceeds the tube bias being transmitted through a cou-- pling condenser I5 to the grid. 33 of an amplifier tube I8.

The error-taking rectier It ispreferably a high vacuum diode electronic tube, but it may alternatively be a rectifier of the crystal or.v dry disc type. Tube bias is applied through lead 2@ and decoupling resistor 25 to the plate I4 from a source of negative direct voltage diagrammatically indicated by battery 48 and potentiometer 2 5, and bias is also applied to the cath-- ode Il through lead 30 and decoupling resistor 3i from a direct voltage source diagrammatically indicated by battery il and potentiometer 46. These biases are adjusted so that thev smallest signals to be received will operate the device.

The grid 33 of amplifier tube i8 is connected to ground by a grid leak resistor d3 for proper operation as an amplifier.

The feedback diode 3l introduces a negative feedback into the circuit at the cathode I 1 of the error-taking diode It, and the bias of the diode 3i is adjusted by means of potentiometer 46, which thus has a dual function. This bias is adjusted so that operation of tube 3l will be on the most` favorable part. of. its characteristic curve.

The error-taking diode rectied signal is ltered by coupling condenser I5 and resistorsl 34 and d3, and the alternating component thereof as before stated actuates the grid 33 of the tube I 3 which constitutes the first stage of a high- Although this amplifier may be of any type it is preferably of the two-stage resistance-capacitance coupled type, as shown in Fig. l. In general, the higher the gain of this amplifier, the greater will be the accuracy of the device. The ampliiier also has a high input impedance to avoid loading the error-taking rectiiier thereby reducing peak voltage and causing error in the final output. The amplifier has a relatively low output impedance to permit delivery oi appreciable power to the detector which follows it. The rst of the two amplifier stages shown in Fig, 1 should therefore preferably contain a high-mu triode to present a high input impedance and the second should preferably be a medium-mu triode to deliver a reasonable amount of output power.

The detector which follows the amplifier may be of any type which will demodulate or rectify the signal presented to it by the amplier, such as a voltage-doubling dual-diode discharge tube,

a single diode rectifier, a grid detector, plate detector or crystal rectifier, but should preferably present a low impedance to the utilizing dual-diode discharge tube 24 followed by a filter consisting of a Aseries resistor; 42 and twoshunt condensers 39 and 4I..l Y

The bias of therdetector is adjusted by a potentiometer 2i served by a source of negative potential diagrammatically represented by battery 44. One of the purposes of this adjustment is to neutralize the diode (contact) potentials of the two diodes so that the no-signal potential of output terminal 21 will be that of ground. l

The manner in which detector tube 24 acts as a voltage doubler is as follows:

` Alternating voltage at the plate 22 of the amplii-ler tube I9 is impressed during onehalf cycle through a large condenser 5I, diode plate 31 and cathode 34 on condenser 23, charging it to crest potential. During the following half cycle the voltage of this condenser is added to the impressed voltage in the circuit of anode 36, cathode 38 and 'condenser 39, causing condenser 4I and the output terminals 21 and 28 to be charged to approximately twice the crest 'alternating voltage, assuming a normally high-load impedance.

The signal produced at output terminals 21 and 28 is as so far described dependent on the strength of the input signal at terminals II and I2 but is by no means proportional to it. The

sence of feedback, but the current passed does not have exactly the form of voltage curve 49, because the current-voltage tube characteristic curve of diode I6 is not straight, hence the input tothe amplier, and its demodulated output at terminals 2i and 2B, Will by no means be proportional to the peak voltage of curve 49. However, the potential at terminal 21 is fed back to cathode l? through the diode 3|, which in this action serves as a decoupling resistor, increasing the positive potential of cathode I1 toward the line a in Fig. 2. This is a self-limiting action,.since this feedback reduces the output o diode i6 until only a very small signal is furnished to the amplier, and the Vfeedback thus limited is unable to force cathode I1 any further positive. The amount which is used of the peak of each positive half cycle may be made as small as desired by increasing the gain of the amplifier and therefore the potential of the signal input to the amplifier may be made as nearly accurately representative of the peak potential of the alternating input signal at terminal i2 as desired. f

That this is so may be seen from an anlysis of the feedback action. Let the alternating input voltage at terminals II and I2 and at plate I4 be El and let the direct feedback voltage supplied through tube 3l to cathode I1 be En. In operation, EF raises the positive potential of cathode I1 so that only the positive peaks of input signal exceeding the potential of cathode I1 plus the inherent diode potential may Vpass to grid 33 of tube I8. The value of EF rises until a stationary condition is reached when only avery small amount of the positive peak of each signal isy passed. The value of this signa-l, Ez-EF, is impressed on grid 33. If this value be termed ESL then the relation Eg=EiEn would be true except 0 for the fact that the value of Eg depends on the error-taking rectifier, the amplifier and the detector all have nonlinear characteristics and the output Willvary with changes in plate supply voltage and with changes in the error-taking rectifier heater supply voltage.

In order to secure an output strictly linear with respect to the input and independent of plate supply voltage and heater voltage changes, negative feedback is introduced through lead 2 9. A portion of the output voltage is fed from terminal 21 through a feedback coupling diode 3i to the cathode I1 of the error-taking diode I6. This results in a strict proportionality between the peak value of the alternating current input potential and the direct current output potential.

The manner by which this is accomplished may be better understood by referring to Fig. 2. An alternating voltage input signal is indicated in Fig. 2 as curve 49. In the absence of conduction by the tube I6, Fig. l, this input voltage on plate I4 would be symmetrical about some bias voltage -c, Fig. 2, determined by the setting of potentiometer 26. The potential of cathode l1, if made slightly more positive than that of plate I4 by adjustment of potentiometer 46, is represented in Fig. 2 by the line -b. Since a diode will not conduct until its plate is made positive enough compared to its cathode to overcome the inherent diode (contact) potential, only that part of curve 4S which is more positive than potential -b will pass through the diode to grid 33 of amplifier i8. This action occurs in abpart of the characteristic curve of tube I6 vat which it is working, so that Eg will vary in a complicated Way depending on the strength of the signal El. Representing the function by f, Eg=(E1-EF). If the output voltage at terminals 21 and 23 be represented by E0, E0 will equal GEg, if G be the gain of amplifier and detector. If in Fig. l the resistance of resistor 14 is Zero, then the negative feedback voltage Er will be equal to the output voltage Eo, so Ithat Eo=Gf(Ei-Eo). The effects of nonlinearity of the error-taking rectifier, amplifier, and detector on the linearity of the entire device may be evaluated Without knowing the exact form of the function #Ei-Eo) by assuming that it is a simple multiple of (Ei-Eo) or that f(Ez-E0) :WE1-E0) Where F is a numerical factor. Then GF EVELH-GF) lf the gain be infinite, therefore EO=E1 exactly regardless of the value of F, and for reasonable amounts of gain En will be very nearly equal to El. Reasonable values of resistors 34 and 43 and of the impedance of diode 3l, all of which appear eectively in parallel to the amplifier input signal, and of the impedance of diode I6 throughout its characteristic curve give an actual value for F in the neighborhood of .9 or .95. Substitution in the above equation shows that variation from .9 to 1 will have only a slight eiect on the linearity of the device.

-In any amplifier. the gain, G, may vary somewhat with the magnitude of signal. In the present example G has been dened to cover the total gain of both amplifier and detector, both of which gains may be variable with magnitude of signal'. 'Howeven the above analysis indicates that as thev amount of gain increases, any variation of gain with signal produces less and less error. Therefore, by use of a high gain amplifier the nonlinearity resulting from the individual aberrations of diode, amplifier, and detector may be made as small as desired, and linearity is practically independent of changes in gain.

The diode 35' as before mentioned, introduces the feedback voltage to the error-taking rectifier It. In introducing the feedback voltage in this manne;` diode 3| serves as a decoupling element and also compensates for measurement error whichwould otherwise be caused by variations in diode I6 heater voltage'- As an illustration of how this compensation occurs, let diodes I5 and 3| when in a conducting condition be represented by the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 3, .Where the battery 52 represents the inherent diode potential of diode IS and battery 53 that of diode 3|. Resistors 54 and 5G represent the internal impedances of the diodes, but they are so low compared with other associated impedances in this circuit that variations in them may be disregarded. The diode potentials are approximately equal to each other and have a magnitude depending on the cathode temperatures, therefore on the heat voltages. These potentials are of a magnitude of one to two volts and a variainternal potential of diode I6 is a possible source 1 of first-order error and cannot be disregarded.v ,It

is almost perfectly compensated, however, by the use of diode 3| as follows. Let it be considered that all bias voltages have been correctly set and that signals being received through lead 5'! by the plate of diode I6, represented in Fig. 3 by battery 52, are partly negatived by negative feedback consisting of a positive direct current potential received through lead 58, and that the difference is passed on to the amplifier through lead 59. If the heater voltage of diode I6 should fall, fewer electrons would be emitted from the cathode, resulting in a lower diode potential. A smaller signal would then be passed, which would cause a spurious decrease in output did not the following action occur. This action consists of a similar reduction in diode 3| heater voltage, both diode heaters 8 and 9 being connected to the same source. This reduces the number of electrons emitted by the cathode of diode 3|, resulting in a lowering of the contact diode potential and a consequent decrease in the amount of feedback voltage effective at cathode This decrease of feedback voltage will be exactly enough to neutralize the decrease in voltage of the diode I6, resulting in a zero change in output on lead 59, within limits of similarity of the potentials 52 and 53.

Diode 3| has the additional function of coupling the feedback voltage to error-taking diode I6 in such a way that substantially no signal energy is lost, since positive pulses of input signal cannot travel from cathode to plate in Other configurations of the error-taking rectifier which may be used comprise designs which reverse its polarity, which apply the feedback on the input side instead of as described Jn the output side, or which separate-the Itwo previouslydescribed functions of the feedback diode. For example, Fig. 4 shows an arrangement in which the cathode 1| of the error-taking diode 63 is presented to the incoming signal. Also diode'Y 6| has only the single function of compensating for heater temperature variations while the inverse 'feedback is accomplished through attachment of a decoupling resistor E2 at the input sideof the error-taking diode fed from output terminal 68.

With these differences operation is similar to that previously described and is briefly as follows; Positive half waves of input signals at terminal 64 cannot pass through diode 63. Negative half waves, however, do pass through, are `amplified in two-stage amplifier |56, detectedA by diode 61,

and filtered to direct potential at-output terminal 68. Lead t9 from output terminal 68 carryinga positive potential of amount representative' of the magnitude of the input signal, is fed back through resistor "52 `to cathode 1| of the errortaking rectifier. This prevents all but the tips of the 'negative half-cycles of input signal from passing. These tips override the feedback voltage and energize the amplifier, so that the output is truly representative of the peak input voltage. Cath'- ode 12 of the correction diode El is supplied with such fixed negative potential at terminal 13 as to operate diode 6| at a desired point on its char'- acteristic curve. Then changes in output caused by changes in the heater of voltageof tube 63 are neutralized as described in connection with Fig. 1.

It was stated in connection with Fig. 1 that if the amplifier has infinitegaln the direct current output signal potential will equal the input peak potential. This is also true in Fig. 4.y However, if resistance be placed in the feedback loop of either figure, such as at .resistor 14, Fig. 1, a positive gain greater than 1 will result. This is obvious from the equation previously given for output voltage Eo, which becomes FG EVEll-LFGr] v when r is the ratio that the negative feedback voltage bears to the output voltage. Thus as the feedback voltage is reduced the. output voltage rises in almost direct proportion.

What is claimed is:

1. A linear detector comprising a diode rectifier having its anode connected to a source of signals to be detected and its cathode connected to the input of a high gain amplifier for transmitting only positive portions of said signals to said amplifier for amplification thereby, a demodulator connected to the output of said amplifier converting the transmitted and amplied portion s of said signals to a direct current potential, an output circuit connected thereto, a direct current feedback circuit connected between a positive terminal of said output circuit and the cathode of said diode rectier whereby the potential of said diode cathode is varied in accordance with said output potential and only the positive peaks of said input signals are transmitted by said diode rectifier, said feedback circuit including a second diode having its anode connected to said output circuit and its cathode connected to the cathode of .said diode rectifier, and a common supply source energizing the heaters of said diode rectifier and said second diode whereby the diode potentials of said diode rectifier and said second diode are varied equallyv by any change in potential of said supply source.

2. A linear detector in accordance with claim 1 in which said feedback circuit additionally includes an impedance.

x3. A linear detector comprising,a diode rectiiler connected to a source of signals to be detected and transmitting a portion of the signals impressed thereon, means for amplifying kthe portion of the signals transmitted by said rectiiler, a demodulator connected to said amplifying means converting said transmitted and amplified signals to a unidirectional potential, an output circuit connected thereto, a feedback circuit connected between said output circuit and an electrode of said diode rectiiier for impressing the unidirectional output potential on said rectier in such a sense that only the peak values of the input signals are transmitted therebyand-Ymeans connected to said diode rectiiier for compensating 'for-variation in the contact potential thereof with Variation of its heater voltage said` last mentioned means comprising a second diode connected in series in said feedback circuit and having its electrodes connected in opposition to the electrodes of said rst mentioned diode.

4. A linear detector comprising, a diode rectier having its anode connected to a source of signals to be detected and its cathode connected to the input of a high gain amplier for transmitting only positive portions of said signal to said amplifier for amplification thereby, a demodulator connected to the output of said amplifier converting the transmitted and amplified portions of said signals to a direct current potential, an output circuit connected thereto, a direct current feedback circuit connected between said output circuit and the cathode of said diode rectifier including a resistor and a second diode connected in series, said second diode having its cathode connected to the cathode of said rectier and its anode connected to one terminal of said resistor.A Y

EVERETTYB. HALES.

REFERENCES orrnn Y The following references are of reccrdin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER. REFERENCES An Automatic Slideback Peak Voltmeter for Measuring Pulses by Creveling and Mautner; vol. 35, No, 2 of IRE for 1947 (February). 

